Some area hotels offer free lodging to officers as a visual deterrent to rowdy crowds
BY JOHN W. COX
Miami Herald
 “Hip Hop” weeked: South Miami Beach, Fla. Memorial Day scene from 2004. JR Everett of Miami people watches from atop his motorcycle. (AP Photo/David Adame) |
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — As the daylight slipped behind the hotels, restaurants and neon-lit clubs in Miami Beach, Naomi Martin and Tamara Scott sipped at what remained of their strawberry daiquiris, eager for this weekend’s swell of Urban Beach Week.
Scooters and policemen on bicycles zipped by, while the occasional Rolls Royce or Ferrari rolled down Ocean Drive. Instead of the salsa music that normally trickles out of Rumba Palace near Seventh Street, a disc jockey blasted hip-hop tracks from Jay-Z and Lil Jon.
''I’ve heard it’s a wild weekend,’' said Martin, a graduate student at the University of Houston. She and Scott are among the throngs expected for the annual Memorial Day weekend that celebrates primarily hip-hop music and culture.
 Visitors dance and have fun at Mango’s Cafem, May 2003, in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, Fla. Miami Beach expects 200,000 visitos this Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) |
This year’s partying is being closely scrutinized after last year’s events resulted in more than 1,000 arrests -- most for misdemeanors.
Martin and Scott said they knew about Urban Beach Week’s reputation but still decided to make their first trip to Miami Beach for Memorial Day weekend.
''Our friends said you haven’t lived until you come here,’' said Scott, a nurse in Atlanta.
''We just came here to relax and have fun,’' she added.
As evidence of the city’s efforts to avoid a repeat of last year, new police signs warn visitors to not double park, play loud music or carry open alcoholic beverages.
Although Miami Beach officials say they are still expecting perhaps as many as 200,000 Urban Beach Week visitors, crowds may be somewhat thinner this year.
''According to a survey conducted earlier this week, we’re just a little behind last year at the same time,’' said Ginny Gutierrez of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Unlike in past years, when Miami Beach has tracked more than 100 events at dozens of venues connected with Urban Beach Week, this year only nine clubs have reported related bookings.
While most hotel managers said they were booked for the weekend, some have noticed a slip in business.
Marvin Sifontes, a manager at the Waldorf Hotel on Ocean Drive, said for the first time in five years the hotel isn’t full for the weekend. He said he heard the area might have lost some of its usual urban crowd due to activities in Las Vegas.
Because of past issues, Sifontes said when the hotel is full they normally bring in extra security for the holiday weekend. Some hotels have taken the unusual step this year to offer free lodging to police officers as a visual deterrent to rowdy crowds.
''We usually have problems,’' Sifontes said. “The crowd is very demanding. The volume of people has been ridiculous up to now.
“It’s very common to see fights, and it’s very common that people run out of the restaurant without paying.’'
Arrests during last year’s weekend nearly doubled from 2005 -- and represented 10 percent of Miami Beach arrests for all of 2006.
Some visitors last year charged that the increased arrests were also related to the largely black makeup of the crowds and alleged police engaged in racial profiling. Most early visitors this year seemed either unaware of the issue or were unconcerned.
Because of last year’s arrests, the American Civil Liberties Union made several suggestions to the city about better ways to deal with this weekend’s crowds.
ACLU members will observe police activity in the areas where most of the arrests took place last year, said Carlene Sawyer, president of the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU.
''We’ve had an experience over and over that when we show up as objective observers, police on the street check back with their managers and make sure that everything’s being done right,’' Sawyer said. ``It’s kind of like a watchdog type thing.’'
Miami Beach will spend more than $1 million on programs that include about 100 Goodwill Ambassadors -- volunteers to serve as conflict buffers between visitors and the city -- said Miami Beach Assistant City Manager Hilda Fernandez. The city also eliminated street parking in the busiest parts of South Beach to give pedestrians more room and extended the hours of the city’s answer center.
''Our priority is making sure that nothing happens and that people come and have a good time,’' Fernandez said.
Leon Williams, a middle-school teacher from Buena Vista, Ga., said he was here during last year’s Memorial Day weekend, and he wouldn’t change a thing. This year he flew down with seven of his friends on Wednesday and plans to stay for a week.
''I came down because I work hard hours,’' Williams said, ``and this is the perfect way to end my year in paradise.
Copyright 2007 Miami Herald